Gadon eyes graft raps vs JBC officials

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The man who filed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is now eyeing graft and corruption charges against Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) officials.

In an interview, lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon said the JBC granted then-chief justice applicant Sereno's request to waive her statement, assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) for a 17-year period.

Sereno's failure to submit her SALNs for these years which covers her stint at the at the UP College of Law is now a basis for a petition questioning the validity of her appointment.

"The JBC cannot waive it. That's the reason why I am also contemplating on filing a case against the JBC officials for graft and corruption. They corrupted the process of the JBC," he told ANC.

Gadon is also backing the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, believing this is a "perfectly legal" way to remove the Chief Justice despite his own impeachment complaint against Sereno.

He also believes the petition will not affect the impeachment raps against Sereno, which is poised to prosper in the House. He said he is confident his complaint will also prosper in the Senate trial.

"With 10 sitting justices affirming all allegations in my complaint and also 2 retired justices, the BIR, the UP head of human resources, how can I go wrong?" he said.

The president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines earlier said the Supreme Court en banc has no jurisdiction over the integrity issue of a chief justice.

Atty. Abdiel Dan Fajardo echoed the assertion of Sereno's camp that the correct way to remove a sitting chief justice is through the process of impeachment. "The correct way of proceeding on this is for the impeachment trial to unfold so that the chief justice would have opportunity to present in public and for the public to benefit her answer and how she would present her evidence," Fajardo said.